Chanter
by what happens in my Imagination
Summary: based in a world where some people have powers, but are hated for it. follows three main characters. read if it sounds interesting.
1. Chapter 1

Chanters

Chapter 1

this is a new story im trying out. please, no flames.

constructive criticism will be accepted. not welcome, but accepted.

enjoy.

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**Eru- **

Today at school there was an announcement. Everyone in the class fell silent to listen to it.

"We have received reports that we have chanters in our school" said the principal over the tannoy. Everyone started whispering excitedly to the person beside them. Chanters were freaks. Weirdos. Outcasts. They were people who had freakish powers, and often showed it. Chanters usually had some sort of freakish addition to them. It was easy to spot them. The class started to get louder as the kids got more excited. A few stern calls from the teacher got us quiet. I looked over at the other side of the classroom, where my friend Eril sat. He sat there, fidgeting with his leather gloves. Eril had a rare skin condition, so he had to wear gloves. He looked worried.

"Miss! Are there really chanters in the school?" asked Cheryl, raising her hand.

"Sadly, yes" the teacher sighed. "That is why you will all be examined by our school doctors." That got the class going again. Chanters didn't come around often, and now all this fuss about it got everyone all excited. It turned into a huge guessing game? Who was the chanter? Were they in the class? Was it someone they knew?

"Enough children!" snapped the teacher. "If Kyle Anderson would like to go to the doctor's office please" the teacher said, flicking through a list in her hands. Kyle grinned as he left the classroom.

"I bet he's a chanter" whispered bobby from beside me. I looked round at him. To me, all this chanter business wasn't all that exciting.

**Aderyn- **

I woke up the same time I wake up every morning- five am. I groaned and smacked my alarm clock, then rolled out of bed. I pulled on my clothes and my trench coat, and left my room. I headed straight out of the hostel. No breakfast for me, the breakfast bar was only open for an hour at eight. I hurried along the deserted street. A few pigeons flew out of the way as I walked through them. It was a cold morning, and I wrapped my coat tight around my body. But the coat wasn't there for warmth. It was to hide my 2 meter long peacock tail, which I cleverly bundled up using a piece of thin rope. It was hard to see anything with the cloak on. Yes, I was a chanter. I kept my head down as I walked forward. When I sneaked a glance up, I saw those boys again. The ones that hung about in the alley way. I had seen them drinking and smoking when I walked home from work. I tried to walk past them. I couldn't be late to work again, or the boss would make me clean the whole pub twice. Again.

"Hey look! It's the coat girl! Hey! Come over here!" they called. I tried to ignore them. But then they walked over to me. I tried not to make eye contact with them as they grinned stupidly at me.

"Hey girlie. It's not nice to ignore people like that. We may have to teach you a lesson" the leader said. I went pale. Even though I was a chanter, I wasn't a fighting chanter. I didn't have any protection. The boys ripped my coat off me. They all recoiled in shock and disgust.

"You're a chanter!" one of them exclaimed, cutting the bindings on my tail with a pen knife. My tail furled out, shining in the morning light.

"Freak!" one of them yelled, slashing my with the pen knife. I cried out in pain. He continued to slash me as his friends cheered him on. Eventually they left me on the pavement, bleeding. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was two men in suits approaching me.

**Eru- **

It was the next day before it was my turn to go to the doctors. Eril was before me, and he hadn't come back to class. There were rumours about him already.

"He's a chanter! A freak! And his friend too probably" were the more popular rumours. Some of the nicer kids said he probably went to the hospital because of his skin condition.

"Eru, you're next" the teacher said. I stood up. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I walked from my desk to the door. The walk seemed to take much longer than it actually was as everyone had fallen silent to watch me go. The hallways to the doctor's office were empty. I hurried along, wanting this to be over and done with. I knock on the door before entering. The doctor was waiting for me, as well as two very burly men. The two men must have been from the chanter academy. The chanter academy was where all chanters went. It was two towns over. If someone reported you as a chanter, people from the chanter academy would come and take you away, and once you were in chanter academy, there was no way out.

"Eru, take a seat" the doctor said, greeting me with an unwelcoming smile. "Now, please fill in this sheet, and follow me into the practice. I filled in the sheet he gave me, and followed the doctor to the practice, which was just a back room. The doctor took my blood, my blood pressure and a few other tests. It was over quickly, which I was thankful for.

"Thank you Eru, you may go now" the doctor said, his face still plastered with the same fake smile. "Please leave through the back door." the doctor said, pointing to another door. I nodded and left through the back door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Aderyn- **

When I woke up, I was lying on my side, in a very unfamiliar place. I bolted upright, and then looked down at my body in shock. I had been stabbed, hadn't I? Why was I fine? And where am I?

"Katrina's a saint, ain't she?" said a voice. I looked up to see another chanter sitting on a bed opposite me. A snake girl smiled at me as she looked at me with her eerie yellow eyes. She seemed about my age.

"You were almost dead when you got here. Bleeding everywhere. The hospital ward certainly had a clean-up job to do. Katrina was the one who came down In the middle of the night and healed you. I'm adelinda by the way. Adele for short, but only if you get along with me."

"A-A-Aderyn" I stuttered. "w-w-where am I?" adelinda laughed, rocking back a bit.

"Where do you think you are? You're in chanter academy my friend. Or as we chanters like to call it- the morgue. That's it when you're here. You don't get out without a permit. Ever" adelinda grinned. "Nice tail. Peacock?"

I nodded. I sat up, looking about the room. It was mostly light blue, white a bit of white here and there. Adelinda's side of the room was customized a bit. A few pictures on the wall, a few bits and bobs on the bedside table. I felt so out of place here. I started fidgeting with my hands. Adelinda saw my nervousness. "You're not a fighter. Don't worry; you'll fit in fine here. I'll protect you from badger. Nasty guy, just don't tell him I said that. He'd kill me if he heard that, but everyone says that about him. You'll be fine, you've got me as a roommate" adelinda grinned, and at once much more at home. At least someone accepted me.

Eru-

As I left through the back door, I entered a smaller room. A few pupils were sitting on seats placed on either side of the room, bored. Including Eril. Nobody looked like they wanted to be there. Eril sat there, picking at his gloves.

"Eril?" I asked in shock. Eril stopped picking at his gloves and looked up.  
"Eru. So the old man did listen to me" Eril said. Eril stood up and walked over to me. "Listen Eru. You were a good friend, but, like all good things, it must come to an end. I am a chanter, and I'm getting sent to the chanter academy. I just wanted a shot at a normal life, and you helped me with it. Thank you" I didn't know where this was coming from.

"You're, you're a chanter?" I asked, not believing him. Eril took his gloves off, handing them to me.

"I won't need these anymore" he said. Then I finally saw his hands. His hands up to about his elbow were jet black. Eril never had a skin condition. He wore gloves to hide his hands. "You were a good friend Eru. Thank you" Eril stepped to one side and gestured to another door. "That door leads you out into the 3B corridor. Goodbye" Eril quickly returned to his seat. I knew Eril was never good with goodbyes, but this was just cold. I unfroze myself, and walked forward, still clutching eril's gloves in my hand. I went to the next door, and stepped through it into the 3B corridor. The door clicked shut behind me. I stuffed eril's gloves in my pocket, and headed back off to class, fighting back tears.

When I got back, word had already spread. They had heard about Eril and the others being chanters. Some of the other children looked at me suspiciously. I heard a few whispers as I walked back to my seat.

"Isn't that the friend of one of the chanters? I bet he's a chanter too. Either way, he's just as freaky as them" the boy whispered loudly to each other as I past them. This wasn't going to end well, I could already tell. I sat, and the teacher resumed the lesson. Eric, the boy who sat behind me, flicked something onto my desk. It was a piece of crumpled paper. I picked it up and slowly smoothed it out. On the paper, it said one thing. Freak.

Aderyn-

I must have fallen asleep while talking to adelinda, because I was shaken awake by the very same person.

"Aderyn! Wake up! You're gonna be late!" adelinda said, shaking my shoulder roughly. I moaned lightly and rubbed my eyes.

"Late? Late for what?" I mumbled.

"Breakfast! If we don't get there quickly, all the good stuff'll be gone" adelinda explained, grabbing my wrists and pulling my up off the bed. I stretched and rubbed my eyes again.

"I'm up, I'm up." I said.

"Great! Let's go!" adelinda said, grabbing my wrist and pulling straight out of the room.

I stumbled along after adelinda as she led me through multiple corridors, each looking exactly the same as the last. Adelinda explained everything as we walked, the times of the bells, the times of classes and such. It was too much to take in at once, but I let adelinda talk.

"-and here is the canteen" adelinda said, taking a break from her talking to open the large doors to the canteen. The canteen itself was already filled with loud, noisy kids eating. Adelinda led me to the edge of the room, and picked up two trays. She handed one to me and led me to a line. The line moved surprisingly quickly, and soon adelinda and I were being served. A happy looking old lady greeted.

"Morning Miss Goodway." Adelinda said.

"Good morning adelinda. What shall it be today?" the old lady asked.

"I think I'll have the porridge Please." Adelinda said. Miss Goodway filled a bowl with steaming porridge and put it on adelinda's tray. Then Miss Goodway turned to me.

"And what would you like dear?" she asked. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I wasn't used to people being this nice to me. Eventually, I asked for some toast. "Here you are dear," Miss Goodway said, putting a plate of toast on my tray. I nodded thanks and hurried to adelinda, who was standing by the cutlery.

"That was so cute! You're so shy!" adelinda cooed. I blushed, looking down. Adelinda laughed. "You are adorable! I'm so glad you're my roommate. Anyway, if you want butter, or jam, it's over there." adelinda pointed to a small table filled with tiny little pots of butter and jam, along with piece of fruit and cups of water. I picked up a pot of butter and a knife before following adelinda into the chaos of the canteen tables.

"This way!" adelinda called, taking a sudden right. I almost tripped over multiple legs to follow her. Adelinda had found two spare seats at one of the back tables, in the corner. The table was already full with girls, talking and joking with one another. I sat down nervously beside adelinda.

"Morning Adele." Said the girl that sat at the top of the table. "Who's your friend?"

"Morning Katrina. This is Aderyn. The girl you healed yesterday" adelinda said. A flash of recognition passed Katrina's face.

"Oh yes! Excuse me, I didn't recognise you without all the blood" Katrina said, smiling. Katrina's smile was unnerving, like it wasn't what it really was.

"This is Katrina. The one who runs this place" adelinda whispered to me. Katrina smirked.

"I wouldn't say run-" Katrina began. "But I do have some control, I do admit"

"Anyway, Aderyn, this is-"adelinda began to introduce me to the other girls sitting at the table, but another girl jumped in, interrupting her.

"Hi! I'm pika! It's so nice to meet you! I can already tell we'll be best friends! Ooh! You have a peacock tail! That's awesome! You must be able to do some awesome things with it! What can you do? I can –"the girl said all in one big rush, overwhelming me. It didn't help that the excited girl had been advancing towards me as she spoke, and was now practically on my knees.

"Time" Katrina said.

"Three minutes, fifty-two seconds" said a girl that sat beside the excited girl said. The excited girl jumped up.

"Yay! New record!" she yelled. Her voice made me wince, it was so high.

"Pika! Calm down!" Katrina ordered. "Can't keep quiet for the life of you." Pika shut up and reluctantly sat down. There was an uncomfortable silence at the table, so I started my toast.

"Tenner bets that pika will start again within the next three minutes" adelinda whispered. I smiled slightly. Maybe being here wasn't going to be all bad.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Thank you Painting the Roses Blue for Beta reading this chapter.

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Eril-

The four of us sat there in the waiting room, well, waiting. That was what a waiting room was for, right? Waiting. We sat there, bored out of our minds, counting each bell as it rang. Fourth period, fifth period, sixth period. Finally, the end of school bell rang. I jumped, looking up from the thread I was pulling from the hem of my shirt. The two men from Chanter Academy walked into the waiting room. They both wore identical light blue hospital-looking suits, and both had deep-set frowns on their faces. There were not name badges or tags on their persons, so I just mentally named them Guy One and Guy Two. Sometimes I was shocked at my level of imagination.

"Stand," Guy One said gruffly.

We all stood at once. These guys looked mean and not afraid to hit one of us at first chance.

"Follow," Guy One said, walking out the door.

We all followed Guy One in a single-file line, Guy Two coming up behind. They led us out into the now-deserted corridor and down the stairwell to the front doors. They led us out of the school and round to the back where there was a truck waiting. The truck looked old, rust appearing here and there. The truck looked like it was supposed to be a medium grey in colour, but it looked so old the colour may have faded a bit. It did not look fit to drive. I sneaked a glace behind me at the others, who were also looking at the truck in some level of disgust. Guy One went 'round to the back of the truck and opened the doors while Guy Two stood watch over us.

"Get in," Guy Two said, nudging me in the shoulder roughly.

I wasn't the tallest in my class, and I wasn't the shortest either, but there was quite a height between the bottom edge of the door and the ground. As I climbed onto the truck, I slipped and grazed my shin. My leg must have caught on a nail or something, because it really freaking hurt. I bit my lip to hold back the words I would have said if I had not been in this situation.

As the other kids got into the truck, nobody said a word. We climbed in and sat down quietly, boys on the right, girls on the left. I started to rub my leg, but then stopped as I found out that it made it worse. The men shut and locked the doors. A bang on the side of the truck signalled the driver to begin driving.

As the truck drove on, I got to know the other Chanters a bit. There was Marina, Cherri and Murray. Marina had long, electric blue hair, pulled back and held in a few places with hair pins. I had heard rumours about her, the girl who dyed her hair blue. She might have been in the class two doors down to mine, but I never really paid that much attention to news outside my own class. Marina, as it turned out, had the power over ice. At a close inspection, I could see the bottoms of her ears were frosted. The frost turned into ice, which formed diamond shaped earrings. I could also see an ice necklace formed on her skin. She must have dyed her hair to take the attention away from her Chanter features.

The other girl was Cherri. I think she was in the year below me. She had long, dark reddish hair, which hung loose about her shoulders. Her eyes were still red from crying. Cherri's hair seemed to have a life of its own, pulsing gently as if it was an organ. Cherri could control her hair like another limb, using it like a whip or to lift things.

That left the other boy, Murray. Murray was the oldest out of all of us, being the year above me. Murray's finger tips looked mechanical. He had probably worn gloves too, but must have been quite reluctant to part with them for the doctor. They had probably been confiscated. Murray was very good with computers. So much so, that Murray could actually be one with the computer, and actually talk to it and work with it.

After I had spoken about myself, we all fell into silence. This was going to be a long ride.

Aderyn-

Someone else joined us at the canteen table. I had already picked at my toast, and was finished a while ago. Sometime during the group conversation, I was introduced to the other girls.

There was the famous Katrina, the leader of the group. Katrina could heal herself and others. Katrina was the oldest, eighteen I think. I wasn't really sure, I had been told too much information in a very short space of time.

There was Dara, who could make armour and weapons appear on her body and in her hands. She was a year younger than Katrina, and the same age as Valentina. Valentina could create black, floating orbs that exploded at her will. It was startling how much Valentina and Dara resembled each other. Well, if you took away Dara's metal plated jaw, those two could pass for twins, yet they assured me they weren't related.

Pika was the very excited girl from earlier. She had just turned fifteen last week. She could become and control electricity, and apparently had non-stop power. All the time. I felt a bit sorry for whoever was her roommate.

Charlotte could see the future. Charlotte was sixteen, and blind. And even though she was blind, it was unnerving how she managed to make eye contact with everyone. There was an inside joke that Charlotte could always beat you at spot the difference. Every time.

There was Ally, Katrina's little side-kick. Ally was the youngest of the group at the age of supposedly had a 'supernova'; but I wasn't sure what that was. She was incredibly shy, and looked down at her tray as I murmured hello. Everyone laughed and Adelinda complained about how they already had one shy person and how they didn't need another one. I blushed and looked down at my plate.

Charlotte, Katrina and Ally, I learned, were something called 'Clear Chanters'. Clear Chanters were people with Chanter powers, but had no physical trait of their power whatsoever.

This new Chanter was a girl of about sixteen, with dark skin and long black hair. She hurried up to the table and took a seat beside Charlotte, setting her tray down with a hurried thud.

"Hey Nikita. Why are you so late?" Katrina asked, taking a sip from her glass of water.

"I was asleep," Nikita said.

"You're always asleep," Valentina grinned.

"You sleep like the dead," Katrina joked.

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Nikita joked back.

"Oh, Nikita, this is Aderyn. Aderyn, this is Nikita. Nikita can bring the dead back to life," Katrina said.

Nikita held her hand out across the table. Nikita's right hand - the hand she was holding out - was nothing but a skeleton. There were no tendons, veins, muscles, nothing. I was wary to touch it. Then again, I was wary to do anything. I reached out and shook it gingerly. Nikita smiled, and the conversation resumed and rolled on, until there was another bell. I jumped and made a small "eep!" sound. People from the tables beside us looked over at me. I looked down and blushed, my cheeks turning a dark shade of red. Everyone smiled at me as they got up.

"That's the end of breakfast. Come on jumpy," Adelinda said, taking my wrist and pulling me along. When I looked back to ask about our trays, I saw someone picking them up.

I shrugged and hurried along with Adelinda. She pushed us through the crowded corridor into another room. It looked to me like a games room, or a common room. There were a lot of chanters here, some at phone booths, others on computers, or what looked like mini arenas.

"Those are call booths. You can call your family from here. Do you have any family to call?" Adelinda asked.

"I have a brother, but he doesn't know I'm a Chanter. I ran away when I noticed my tail forming. My brother is part of an anti-Chanter group. It's more like a gang that's legally allowed to maim and hurt Chanters. That's why I had to leave."

"What happened when you ran away? Where did you go?" Adelinda asked, taking me to a pair of empty chairs in a quiet corner of the room.

"I found a hostel willing to take me in. I found a place in a bar as a dancing girl. Lady Peacock, the drunken men called me. Only my boss knew that my tail was real, and he threatened to report me if I refused to work. I would clean the pub early in the morning, and then work behind the bar until six in the evening when I would perform for the rest of the night. I would usually end my shift at around two in the morning, and that's if the men don't call for an encore. If I didn't work, I would be reported, and probably in the newspaper too. I couldn't let that happen, especially when my brother was out looking for me. But if he knew . . ." I trailed off, tears forming in my eyes.

Talking about my brother hurt. Jack had loved me so much. No, he still loved me. But he wouldn't like what I've become.

Jack loathed Chanters. He was always one of those types to go overboard with what he believed in, and to protect me. After our parents died, Jack got over protective, and decided that all Chanters were out to get me.

He started a gang. It was small at first, just five or six people vandalising properties that were either owned by Chanters, or had Chanters living in them. But then the gang grew bigger, until it had become an organisation. Then it had a couple of hundred people in it, every single one of them fighting with Jack and what he believed in. Destroying all of the Chanters. I was young, and didn't fully understand what was going on. But sometimes I watched Jack come home late from my room, and I saw him covered in blood.

I learned what Jack was doing, and why he was doing it. He wasn't afraid to fight anyone that stood against him, and he wasn't afraid to kill. When I fell ill, Jack stopped going out for a while to take care of me. I felt like we were back when our parents were still alive, and Jack was still the same old fun-loving, clumsy, big brother Jack.

But when I got better, he resumed going out. And when I discovered I was a Chanter one morning, I knew I had to run away. I couldn't let Jack see me like this, and I knew he would kill me if he did.

The tears spilled over. I rubbed my eyes, which did nothing to help stop the tears.

"It's alright, I'm your family now," Adelinda said, smiling. I smiled too, but faintly. Adelinda pulled me into a tight hug. "Nothing's gonna harm you now."

Eru-

Back home, I hid myself in my room. There had been a phone home to all parents telling them about the Chanters. My parents said I would forget about Eril soon. But I knew I wouldn't. You don't just forget about your best friend. I looked at the photo of Eril and me, in our survival week at school. We were all muddy after fighting over a chocolate bar, but we laughed and ended up sharing it anyway. I changed out of my uniform with a slight smile on my face.

Back downstairs my smile faded. The harsh reality of everything once again faced me. My best friend was gone.

I was expecting Mum to at least say 'it'll be alright' and pat my shoulder as she handed me a cup of hot chocolate. It's what she always did when I was upset. But Mum was setting the table, like it had just been a normal day. Dad was already sitting down, reading the evening times. I sat down at my usual spot. I didn't speak to Mum or Dad as we ate dinner.

I ate my dinner quickly, burning my mouth. I didn't care. Once I was finished, I quickly excused myself and retreated to my bedroom.


End file.
